Retired Techie

Introduction

Over the next few months, I will be exploring computer cryptography: certificates, chains of trust, certificate authorities, encryption, digital signatures, and the like.

These subjects can seem intimidating, but they are part of the technology we rely on every day. In this article, I want to focus on the basics of public-key cryptography, specifically how key pairs can be used with email. In a future articles, I’ll look at other applications, including HTTPS in your web browser.

Public-key cryptography forms the basis of any number of security systems people encounter every day, making it a useful place to begin. The subject is often presented using dense terminology, jargon, and complicated mathematics. My goal is to keep these things short, clear, and approachable, while adding detail where it matters.

This series will focus on the practical use of public-key cryptography in networking, beginning with the role of PGP or OpenPGP key pairs in email.